This week, we look at Arsenal, which finished third in the 2019-20 abbreviated FA WSL season in England—missing a spot in the 2020-21 UEFA Women's Champions League—but still has a chance for glory in the 2019-20 WCL campaign, traveling to Spain in August for a central location tournament wrap-up. They have some players' comings and goings as they look to set their roster for their next league campaign. We also look at the calendar changes for the W-League in Australia, which will have some interesting implications for the league, with the potential for an expanded season but some competition for international players and with other local football codes. We have an update from United Women's Soccer activities in North America, which is the only women's minor league to have any formal competitions this summer. We also touch on a report of an expansion effort in Los Angeles for a NWSL team.
Arsenal Tweaks Their Roster Ahead of the 2020-21 FA Super League Season
Arsenal, thanks to a quarterfinal berth in the current (2019-20) Women's Champions League season, is the only English FA WSL side that will play games this summer despite the FA WSL shutting down its 2019-20 season in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league eventually awarded the title to Chelsea (39 points from 15 games)—using a points per game average—over second place Manchester City (40 points in 16 games,) while third place Arsenal still had 7 games left and were well-placed to challenge for a top two spot (and 2020-21 Champions League qualification) with 36 points from 15 games.
Arsenal head coach Joe Montemurro told Arsenal.com his thoughts about the shortened 2019-20 season, feeling that as the Gunners were only 4 points adrift of City with a game in hand and seven matches still to play, that they still had a chance for the title before the season was cancelled, "I think we were leading into a really important part of the season and when you look at the games that we had remaining, it was set to be a really exciting end to the title race. We still had a really good chance of achieving something and we placed ourselves in a really good position. We obviously had a little bit of a tough spot shortly after the New Year with injuries and so on, but look, it's always very, very difficult to back up a title-winning campaign with another. You become the hunted and the expectations are huge, and I've been so proud of the players for the way that they stepped up to that expectation and showed their worth by continuing to play that brand of football and winning games on an almost weekly basis. We achieved a lot in terms of records too with our 11-1 victory over Bristol City and setting a new WSL record attendance in the north London derby [of 38,262 in a 2-0 away win over Tottenham on November 17, 2019, with tallies from Scottish international Kim Little and Netherlands international Vivianne Miedema]. We also made it to another cup final and our Champions League campaign was running along quite nicely, so there's a lot of positive things for us to look back on!" Montemurro thought about the future after the pandemic closedown of play when he said, "The platform that we've now built to launch ourselves off of is really exciting and I think all of us within the game have been missing it desperately. Because of that, I think the thirst to get back into our flow and back into the action will make things even more exciting when football returns, so I'm looking forward to an even bigger season."
Arsenal is still alive in the 2019-20 Women's Champions League, thus giving them an early jump in preparations for the upcoming league matches at home for next season. The 2019-20 WCL will complete the last three rounds of tournament play (Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final Game) this August in Spain. Arsenal outlasted Manchester City as FA WSL representatives in the tournament as City fell to Spanish Champions Atletico Madrid 3-2 on aggregate in the previous round (Round of 16).
Some player news for the club which hopes to make a statement in the WCL and be seen as one of the top club teams in Europe and the World ahead of the 2020-21 season—having won the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2006-07, the FA WSL in 2011, 2012 and in 2018-19 along with 12 Premier League titles before the founding of the top tier league—includes that they will lose out-of-contract French international goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin; she was reportedly a target for Bordeaux at home, which is managed by former Gunners boss Pedro Martínez Losa, but she ended up signing for Spanish powerhouse Atletico Madrid in the first week in July. Peyraud-Magnin said about her move to the Spanish league, "I am proud to belong to one of the best teams in Europe, which has a very important history in both the men's and women's football. I want to be part of the future of this club and contribute my experience, work and professionalism. I am a very hard-working player, with a lot of motivation and who wants to improve day-by-day. I am proud and I can't wait to play with my new colors." Peyard-Magnin played only 3 times this season in the Super League for Arsenal, backing up Manuela Zinsberger, Austria's 2017 EUROs star keeper and a two-time German title winner at Bayern Munich and four-time title winner at home with SV Nulengbach. Peyraud-Magnin (28) played on two different occasions with Olympic Lyon, winning three league titles and two UEFA Women's Champions League crowns, as well as having spells with Issy, St-Étienne and Marseille at home. Peyraud-Magnin was an important part of Arsenal's 2018/19 Women's Super League title winning team, completing seven shutouts in the net and became the first Frenchwoman to win a FA WSL crown.
Another departure is Danish international Katrine Veje, who joined Arsenal in January of 2019 for the second half of their 2018-19 title winning campaign. Veje played 9 games for the Seattle Reign in the NWSL in 2015. In her one plus campaigns with the Gunners, she played 16 matches, with 4 assists in their triumphant 2018-19 season when Arsenal won the title for the first time since the 2012 campaign.
English international Danielle Carter (27) is leaving Arsenal after 11 seasons in North London. She joined from Leyton Orient's Centre of Excellence in 2009, and since then she's helped the Gunners to five Continental Tyres Cups, four FA Cups and three Women's Super League titles. Carter leaves as the longest-serving player in the current squad, having scored 60 goals in 184 appearances. She has had injury problems of late, tearing an ACL in 2018 and even though she returned in 2019, was left off the 2019 Women's World Cup team for France and then had another ACL tear in July of 2019. She first played for England in September of 2015 after the successful third place finish of the Three Lionesses in Canada, scoring a hat-trick in an 8-0 defeat of Estonia away in an impressive debut match.
Another departure is Republic of Ireland international defender Louise Quinn, who was out of contract. She signed for Arsenal in early 2017 on a three month deal after her previous club Notts County folded. She then extended that contract and helped the squad win the 2018-19 league title. Quinn (30) also played with Eskilstuna in Sweden and has over 75 caps for her country.
Austrian defender and national team captain Viktoria Schnaderbeck has re-upped with the club. She came from German power Bayern Munich in May of 2018, though she was injured for much of the 2018-19 title winning season. She had a stellar season in 2020-21 until the league shutdown, starting 17 games across all competitions and guiding the side to 12 shutouts. Head Coach Joe Montemurro said, "I'm really delighted to have Viki stay with us. She's a really experienced professional who is always willing to work for the team and go that extra mile to help someone out, so she really personifies what we're trying to achieve. We're ecstatic to retain her at Arsenal." Montemurro discussed what he saw as her best position,"I think she's definitely best in the central defense area where she's good at constructing and building play, but she's also very, very good in the phases of non-possession when we need to organize and set up for transition moments that could be a problem when the other team has the ball. One-on-one she's very good and in set plays she's very effective too, and with the ball she's very intelligent in picking the moments of when we can go forward, or when we need to prepare to go forward. She suits our style to a tee and we're really looking forward to seeing the best of her."
Schnaderbeck talked about her return to form this season after her injury difficulties in 2018-19 with Arsenal.com, "It's always hard to come back after injury because it takes a lot of time and patience, This year was very important for me, but I still think there is so much more to come personally and I also believe I can learn so much from my amazing teammates, both on the pitch and off the pitch. They're amazing people as well as players."
Schnaderbeck talked about being quarantined during the recent Coronavirus situation: "I'm feeling really fit at the moment too, but right now I'm just enjoying my time off and having some holidays in Austria with my family and friends, but I was lucky to keep my motivation to continue training and maintain my fitness. I think the mental aspect was very important to keep myself fit and healthy. The off-season will be different this year, for sure, but I think now it will be even more important to have a proper pre-season to meet again, be together as a team and work on all the things we've been analysing over the past few months. I can't wait to be back and start training again, not alone, but with my teammates again!"
This past season Arsenal had players from England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Australia (as well as Coach Montemurro, a native of Australia).
Australian international defensive back Steph Catley, who played 6 years in the NWSL and the last two seasons for OL/Tacoma/Seattle Reign and scored the winning goal in a 1-0 Melbourne City Grand Final win for the 2019-20 title over reigning champions Sydney FC. (as we discussed last week, see: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-heiner-moller-resigns-as-canada-coach-two-matildas-move-to-france-uws-cancels-tournament-4332402) has been rumored for some time to be joining Arsenal and that was confirmed on July 6. She called her signing a "no brainer" because the Super League has become a top destination for players at the current time. Catley explained to Sky Sports News that, "Because I've played in America for so long, [six years], since I was 18. I feel like I have experienced everything I can in the American league and now I want to challenge myself at one of the best clubs in the world. England has gone from strength to strength in terms of its league and their national team in the last couple of years." Catley has 82 full national team appearances for the Matildas.
Another new signing is 19-year-old midfielder Malin Gut from Grasshoppers in Switzerland, who previously had played with crosstown rival FC Zurich. She first appeared for Switzerland's full national team last year during UEFA Women's World Cup qualifying matches.
In news about a possible new addition for 2020-21, Arsenal is chasing Switzerland international Noëlle Maritz (24), who was actually born in the U.S. and moved back to Switzerland when she was 10. She has played with Wolfsburg in Germany since 2013, winning two league titles, three Cups and the Women's Champions League in 2014. Prior to moving to Germany she won two league crowns with FC Zurich at home.
In other news for the club, Arsenal's Dutch international forward Vivianne Miedema won the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year title after scoring 16 goals in 14 league matches in the shortened 2019-20 season to win the league's Golden Boot for the second straight year, while also leading in assists with 8. She scored 6 times in an 11-1 win over Bristol City last December along with 4 assists. Before the FA WSL campaign, she scored three goals in leading her country to the 2019 Women's World Cup Final in France, losing 2-0 to the U.S. Miedema won the award this year by one vote over Chelsea's Beth England. Lucy Bronze and Guro Reiten were joint third and Ellen White fifth. In 2018-19 she lost the FWA award by one vote to Nikita Parris. She said "Obviously I couldn't have done it without my teammates and I can't wait to be able to go out again and enjoy football again."
Westfield W-League Changes Season Timing in Australia with Huge Possible Ramifications for Football in General and the Women's Game in Particular
The Westfield W-League in Australia has changed and extended the season calendar for the 2020/21 season and beyond, with huge ramifications for the league and the sport in the country. In 2019/20, the W-League season ran from mid-November through mid-March (including the two rounds of playoffs, though there were Matilda AFC Olympic Games Qualifiers to work around), while in 2018/19 the league calendar ran from late October to mid-February. For 2020/21, the W-League will start in December and run to July. In the past, the National Netball League, which typically runs from May to August, was the only women's sport during the Australian winter. Netball will now face competition from the W-League and the Hyundai A-League (men's soccer), as the men's league calendar will now mirror the W-League calendar (December to July) from its roughly mid-October to mid-May traditional timeframe (including international breaks and playoffs), as both soccer leagues have changed their schedules to coincide.
The driver for the league calendar shifts by the Australian Football Federation (FFA) was signing a revised soccer broadcasting contract with Fox Sports in mid-June for the remainder of the A-League season in 2019/20 (the remaining five rounds and playoff finals) and next season (2020/21). This new contact will include W-League coverage for the 2020/21 season and selected Socceroo's and Matilda internationals, though it will come at a significant drop in revenue from the original contract. The current A-League season was suspended in March because of the Coronavirus pandemic. It will resume in mid-July and finish by the end of August. Particularly for the A-League, the new schedule does sync Australian soccer more closely with its Asian neighbors (for AFC Champions League matches) and the FIFA international calendar, which has been a goal for the FFA for some years. The men's professional domestic season has been run as a summer (Southern Hemisphere) competition since 1989, which was during the days of the now-defunct National Soccer League, the predecessor to the A-League. The W-League has always been an end of year (Q4)/start of a new year (Q1) in its scheduling.
Foxtel (which has struggled financially due to the pandemic) had an AU$57 Million (US$40M) a year contract with the FFA that was due to expire in 2022. The network and FFA renegotiated it downward to AU$32 Million (US$22M) for a shorter period of time, though Foxtel first offered AU$11 Million (just under US$8M)—not a surprise as sponsorships in particularly and business in general have seen drastic cut backs in 2020 budgets due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the high levels of uncertainty surrounding the launch of sports (though the AFL and NRL and Rugby Union games in New Zealand are now being played in front of live crowds)—thus, the FFA should be commended for its negotiating skills.
The 2019/20 W-League season was historic for women's football in Australia with every W-League game streamed live and two live games on TV. Thursday night games were live on Fox Sports while Sunday games were live on Fox Sports and ABC. All four games were streamed through Kayo Sports.
As Joey Lynch wrote in ESPN about the new soccer contract, "The agreement will provide some much needed certainty in the coming months and help the FFA to navigate what will be a difficult period in the Australian broadcasting landscape—one that has already seen networks negotiate an astounding AU$400 Million (US$278M) off existing broadcast deals with Australia's various top-tier sports."
In May, the other major sporting codes in Australia have made it clear (as did FIFA) during the current COVID-19 pandemic that they will not back off of coverage or funding for their women's leagues. The National Rugby League announced it was close to securing a AU$2 Billion (US$1.4B) television deal with Channel Nine and Fox Sports, with the NRLW competition included as part of the negotiations. The AFLW was in the middle of a four-year AU$10 Million (US$7M) deal which sees Foxtel televise all four games each weekend, while Channel Seven had two home-and-away matches per round. This deal was separate to the massive six-year AU$2.5 Billion (US$1.7B) broadcast rights agreement the men's Australian Football League (AFL) signed in 2017. This deal is expected to be extended by two years soon, and the AFLW deal could be folded into it. Cricket Australia signed an AU$1.2 Billion (US$800M) six-year deal with Seven and Fox Sports in 2018, which included the women's national team and the popular Women's Big Bash League.
With this change from a 3.5-to-4 month league season (14 rounds of 12 games and semifinals and final) to potentially 6-7 months for the W-League, there should be a great opportunity to have more regular season matches, long a complaint against the league. Potentially there will be more movement of players between the NPLW second division and the W-League. However, the W-League could well see fewer imports because their traditional North American winter run dove-tailed perfectly with the NWSL offseason (traditionally November-March). Americans and Canadians have played in the league since it started in 2008/09, but since the NWSL launched in 2013, far larger numbers have flocked to Australia (22 Americans at the start of last season and almost that same number of Australians and other internationals coming from the NWSL or American colleges). The NWSL has very much 'lost its bloom' as a destination league for Matildas, with England's FA WSL, France and Norway being more popular of late, particularly over the past six-to-nine months. There is only one Matilda in the NWSL this season (Allana Kennedy of Orlando, which had to drop out of the Challenge Cup tournament because of a spate of positive COVID-19 tests) compared to 14 last season. Also, the W-League will now go against second half seasons in Fall-Spring leagues in France, England, Germany, etc. for players. This doesn't necessarily mean that we still won't see Americans or Europeans joining clubs, as those who finish their senior college soccer season in November can still come as well as lower profile players hoping to break into the professional ranks (Rylee Baisden of the Brisbane Roar in 2019/20 was a success, having played at lower levels in Europe and then in the NSL state league level in Australia, where she was discovered by the Roar in a tryout). Also, a variety of internationals should be interested in playing in the country ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup, thanks to last month's award of the Finals to Australia and New Zealand as joint hosts, which will help to increase the profile of the W-League around the world. In the 2022/23 W-League season in particular, we could see a lot of internationals who expect to play in the FIFA Finals acclimatizing, as well as Matildas and Football Ferns coming home (either on loan or permanent transfers) to reduce their extensive travel to other continents before the World Cup begins and also to help with local promotions and publicity campaigns for the FFA and sponsors.
A downside with the calendar change is that soccer will go up against the AFL and NRL from March to July—with the W-League bumping up against the women's version of both leagues. The two women's football codes will also be competing against each other to a certain extent for players, though it has been a limited number of dual code players, with the AFLW seeing a large increase in numbers of Gaelic players from Ireland this season. Players who have played in both the AFLW and W-League such as Ellie Brush (Sydney FC) and Jenna McCormick (last season with Melbourne Victory and who sat out the 2019/20 AFLW season with the Adelaide Crows to concentrate on soccer and was capped for the first time by the Matildas late in 2019) will now clearly have to choose one over the other. The W-League will go head to head with AFL and NRL and women's league for media attention, television viewing, fan engagement and sponsorships. As ESPN's Lynch wrote last month, "The same goes for maintaining sponsors—with the likes of Hyundai, Caltex, Aldi and more having seemingly already engaged in a mad dash for the lifeboats amidst the status quo."
It will be interesting to watch the changes coming in the W-League in the seasons to come. As always, this report will regularly update TribalFootball.com readers on the state of the game down under.
UWS Teams Continue to Schedule Regional Events
UWS announced two Regional Showcases in addition to regular season UWS League 2 Southeast Conference matches and an originally scheduled open invitational tournament in Texas involving a club from California and two from the East Coast as well as 4 from the host state (which was later postponed, due to the extreme rise in COVID-19 cases in the state). These two showcases will be held on consecutive weekends in July (17-19) and (24-26) in Michigan.
The UWS Midwest Showcase, hosted by Midwest United FC, will take place from July 17-19. Games will be played on Friday and Sunday at Midwest United FC Christian Athletic Complex in Kentwood, MI (near Grand Rapids in the Western part of the state). Joining the host will be Corktown AFC, Detroit City FC, and one club TBA soon. More details including live-streaming information will be provided in the coming weeks. Midwest United Director of Coaching Lewis Robinson explained, "We are thrilled to be hosting this event to get our ladies back on the field this summer. With some quality competition and the help and support of UWS, we know this weekend will be safe, exciting, and a real pleasure to get back to soccer for all of our players, fans, and Midwest United FC community."
Detroit City FC will host the UWS Stadium Showcase to take place from July 24-26 at Keyworth Stadium (Detroit, Michigan—a 8,000 seat stadium in the enclave of Hamtramck). Joining DCFC's inaugural women's team will be Lansing United, Livonia City FC (UWS-2), and Midwest United FC. The Showcase will feature two semi-final matches leading into a championship and third-place tilt. Every match will be livestreamed, with Detroit City FC matches also airing on TV20 Detroit. Detroit City FC Women head coach Sam Piraine said, "This will be an exciting time for the Detroit City Women. We will have teams that will be coming in that have had success in the UWS in years past, and I think this will be a good time to evaluate our players and help us prepare even more for a full 2021 season."
Both host teams and the UWS continue to adhere with State restrictions and Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations.
14 Former UWS Players are on NWSL Challenge Cup Rosters
United Women's Soccer (UWS,) which provides a high level summer professional-amateur league for college players and others and helps them prepare for their college seasons and other competitions, has shown that in 5 short seasons that it is a contributor to the professional game in America as 14 of their former players are participating on the 8 NWSL teams in the 2020 Challenge Cup in Utah taking place this month. (Orlando Pride had to drop out just before the event started after experiencing a number of positive COVID-19 cases among players and staff.)
League Commissioner Joe Ferrara said, "It is amazing to see so many former players on professional teams, here and abroad, in the league's four years of existence."
UWS will have its 14 former players spread out over seven teams in the tournament:
Chicago Red Stars: Zoe Morse (Lansing United), Michele Vasconcelos (Real Salt Lake Women)
Houston Dash: Chloe Castaneda (Santa Clarita Blue Heat)
North Carolina Courage: Stephanie Labbé (Calgary Foothills), Ally Watt (Colorado Pride)
OL Reign: Bethany Balcer (GRFC Women), Darian Jenkins (Real Salt Lake Women)
Portland Thorns FC: Madison Pogarch (GRFC Women)
Sky Blue FC: Sabrina Flores (LA Galaxy OC), Chantelle Swaby (New England Mutiny), Nicole Baxter (NJ Copa FC)
Washington Spirit: Natalie Jacobs (LA Galaxy OC), Kaiya McCullough (Santa Clarita Blue Heat), Ashley Sanchez (Santa Clarita Blue Heat)
The UWS Adds a Utah Side—Again
The UWS expanded to Utah again—the Real Salt Lake Women moved from the WPSL to the UWS in 2016 and played three seasons—when they announced late last month that Kongo SC is joining the league for 2021. The club has been in existence since 2013 and has over 700 players.Kongo SC will play in Salt Lake City and will compete alongside two California-based teams, The City FC (Fresno) and Santa Clarita Blue Heat (Santa Clarita). The City FC is new to the league, and will feature top talent in the Central Valley. SC Blue Heat won the regular season Conference Championship in 2016 and 2017, and the 2016 UWS National Championship. Calgary Foothills WFC claimed the West title the last two years. Konga SC is expected to be joined by other new Western Conference clubs in the months to come.
Given so many concerns about minor league clubs in all sports in America because of the Coronavirus pandemic, this expansion is very good news for the future of the league and growth of the sport in the States.
NWSL Looking at Los Angeles as an Expansion Site
The city of Los Angeles has always been a target for NWSL expansion. Meg Linehan, a long-time reporter on the women's game in the States and now with The Atlantic said, "The primary name on the filing is Julie Uhrman (an entrepreneur), who is listed as CEO and President of WFC LA, Inc. on the trademark applications. Based on the common address across all of these forms, WFC LA also has a base of operations located in the city. The Athletic understands that multiple other parties are involved in the ownership group, but it is not yet known who else is involved." Uhrman's effort has branded itself as Angel City Football Club. This news was surprising as it has long been assumed that MLS's LAFC (with former U.S. National Team star Mia Hamm in the ownership group) or the L.A. Galaxy—who's home stadium has hosted U.S. National Team and CONCACAF women's finals for years (as well as the Four First Round Matches as well as the Third Place and Final Game of the Women's World Cup in 2003). Lineham wrote, "A source with knowledge of the expansion talks confirmed that one of the two LA MLS teams is expected to still be involved as part of the expansion efforts, however. That involvement will likely be as an operating partner for the team, but may also include an ownership stake as well."
The Louisville Proof (referring to the famed Kentucky Whiskey and Bourbon distilled in the region) will join the NWSL for the 2021 season, which is paired with the USL Louisville City FC and will play in a brand new stadium for both teams which opens for the USL side this month. Sacramento Republic FC, a new MLS expansion franchise, was reported to be in the hunt for a 2020 NWSL expansion—potentially with lower-division club the California Storm playing a role as well —but there has been no word recently from either organization as to whether this is still a future possibility, particularly with the Coronavirus pandemic affecting all of the sports world.
Los Angeles has not been home to a women's professional soccer club since the folding of the WPS's LA Sol in January 2010. The inaugural game of the WPS was held in the Galaxy's stadium for the Sol in 2009 as well as the Championship Final, when Sky Blue FC upset the hosts 1-0 (both games which this reporter attended, along with special media conferences with league officials).
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get your copy today.
Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey
